A team from the Vancouver Film School (VFS) has taken first place in the Entertainment Software Association of Canada’s (ESAC) first annual Student Video Game Competition. The VFS team, comprised of Melvin Kwan, Justin Ostensen, Charles Park and Brian Yich, has emerged as the victor in a strong pool of competitors representing schools from across Canada and all genres of video games. Their game, Zeta Busters, a strategy RPG, will be shown at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles from June 16-18, 2015.

“We’re excited and proud to showcase Canadian student talent to the world at E3,” said Jayson Hilchie, President and CEO of ESAC. “The rapid growth of Canada’s video game industry has strained the availability of skilled talent. To ensure the industry continues to attract the best and brightest, ESAC has launched the inaugural Student Video Game Competition to reward the best team of Canadian trained students with the opportunity to showcase their game at E3,” he added.

“We’re so excited to represent Zeta Busters and the Vancouver Film School at E3,” said Melvin Kwan, a member of the winning team. “Simply attending E3 is an amazing experience, but having the chance to show our game at the show is absolutely incredible.”

In addition to strategic recruitment from around the world, Canada’s video game industry hires many new grads each year to fill critical positions. With an industry average age of 31 years and an average starting salary of $47,000 for technical roles and $40,300 for creative roles, Canada’s video game industry is providing a bright future for young skilled and creative women and men.